


Keeping Pace

by tatersalad5001



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Friendship, Gen, I haven't touched kh3 yet! no spoilers in my lobby!!!!, NOT Spoilers for Kingdom Hearts III !!!!, Post-Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance, Training, Zine: Ties That Bind (Kingdom Hearts)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-10-21 18:29:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17647691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tatersalad5001/pseuds/tatersalad5001
Summary: Kairi closed her eyes and held her Keyblade the same way Riku had. After a few minutes, she slouched forward with a sigh. Her Keyblade, still in her hands, fell towards the ground.“It’s hopeless, isn’t it? I’m never going to catch up with you guys.”





	Keeping Pace

**Author's Note:**

> Howdy! I wrote this for the [Ties that Bind](https://gumroad.com/l/mduAr) zine, and if you haven't checked it out yet, you should! It's free, and full of amazing art and writing from a lot of talented people... This is just a small piece of something much greater!! I'm really glad I was able to get this out for the zine and I'm glad I got to participate!
> 
> I love the trio of Sora, Riku, and Kairi. But so often, everything is 'Sora and Riku' this, or 'Sora and Kairi' that. We need more Riku and Kairi content! Their friendship is important and strong... Riku dove into darkness for Kairi and never stopped looking for her, even when he thought Sora abandoned them. Kairi recognized Riku on sight even when Sora couldn't and she stuck by his side, even when he thought he didn't deserve his friends anymore. Riku helped her realize her potential to help and fight. I wanted to touch on that, a bit, draw that out and highlight that friendship. And after this, I realize I do at some point want to write more things like this, too. More that focuses on the relationship between Riku and Kairi, and more that focuses on some of the lesser explored relationships in Kingdom Hearts, and even ones that don't exist (yet) (though...no Kingdom Hearts 3 spoilers, my ideas of what relationships don't exist may change with the game, but I haven't played yet!) I hope I get around to that sometime. 
> 
> Again, if you haven't checked out the zine, you should! And, again... _please_ don't leave any kh3 spoilers in any comments or anything. i do see every comment anyone makes, i've stayed unspoiled thus far and i really want to keep it that way. thank you!! I hope you enjoy, and thanks for reading! You can also find me on [tumblr](http://datanamines.tumblr.com).

“You cut your hair,” Kairi observed. “I’m not going to be able to braid it anymore.”

“You cut yours, too,” Riku said. “I doubt either of us will be braiding each other’s hair for awhile.”

“We’ll just have to settle for combat training for now, then,” Kairi decided. “But next time we’ll have to... Oh, we should go clothes shopping! It’s perfect for calming the mind, and being calm is important for training.”

Riku and Kairi were the only ones at the training session that day. Lea was out on at Radiant Garden, checking in on the former members of the Organization and trying to figure out where their missing comrades might be. As for the training sessions, Kairi was making great strides in physical combat. Her magic, however, needed some work.

“I don’t get it.” Kairi glared down at her Keyblade. “I should be better at casting spells than this, shouldn’t I? I’ve spent so long practicing and even the basic spells are sometimes too hard for me.”

“Everyone has different strengths,” Riku told her. “Magic isn’t easy for everyone. I struggled with it at first, too. You’ve gotten stronger so quickly, maybe physical combat is easier for you. Or maybe you’ll have an easier time learning a different kind of magic than we’ve tried so far. We haven’t tried wind magic yet, have we?”

Riku held his Keyblade out horizontally in front of him and focused. A small gust of wind appeared at the end of his Keyblade as he cast a small Aero spell. The wind dissipated quickly after that; Sora had always been much better at wind magic than him.

He turned to Kairi.

“Focus, but not too much. Let the magic flow through you. Remember those windy days on the islands? Imagine those winds coming out of the weapon in your hands.”

It might not work out, Riku knew. He’d avoided Aero so far since he himself wasn’t the best with it, and he had no idea if Kairi would be. Most people seemed to learn Fire or Blizzard best at first. If Kairi found a spell that came more naturally to her, maybe she’d do better with those, too.

Kairi smiled at Riku. “I’ll try it. Can’t go worse than anything else so far, right?”

She closed her eyes and held her Keyblade the same way Riku had. After a few minutes, she slouched forward with a sigh. Her Keyblade, still in her hands, fell towards the ground.

“It’s hopeless, isn’t it? I’m never going to catch up with you guys.”

“It’s not hopeless,” Riku disagreed. “It just takes time and practice. I know we’ve gotten separated in our adventures before, but we’re not leaving you behind again, not anymore. You’ll be better than Sora when we’re done.”

“You think I can get that strong?” Kairi asked.

“Easily,” Riku replied.

Fire spat out of Kairi’s Keyblade, burning the grass around. It began to spread towards Riku’s feet before he successfully put it out.

“I’m sorry!” Kairi apologized.

“No, that was...great,” Riku insisted. “You cast Fire!” They’d been going for Aero, and it wasn’t the best Fire Kairi had ever cast, but it was progress. It was something.

“I’m sorry,” Kairi repeated. “I was just...really happy. And grateful, that you’re here to help me. That you and Sora didn’t leave me behind. You’re a good teacher, Riku, I know I wouldn’t have made it this far without you.”

“Don’t sell yourself so short. You’re good. And not just at using the Keyblade. You’re good at knowing who to trust, and you’ve never let someone’s words or appearances fool you. You’re full of different strengths that are good for different situations. And... You never gave up on us, because of that.”

“You’re the ones who never gave up on me,” Kairi corrected him. “When you couldn’t find me, you did everything you could just to find me again, even though I couldn’t wake up. Sora was willing to do anything to save me from the Organization.”

“I’d say we’re even, then.” Riku smiled. “And trust me, we’ll never leave you behind as long as we have a say in it. The three of us will always be a part of each other’s lives, no matter what.”

“No matter what.” Kairi grinned at him. “Okay, I can accept that we’re even. And, you know, maybe this feeling is what helped me cast Fire this time. If I focus on it, maybe I can control my magic a little better and make it stronger. At least with Fire.” She tightened her grip on her Keyblade. “I want to keep trying.”


End file.
